One of the most hilarious things to me is Americans whacking other countries for being corrupt. Russia is a favorite target, but the US abuses virtually every non-Western country for “corruption.” I’ve pointed out before that this is absurd. There is no more corrupt country in the world than the US. The bank bailouts were [...]

Yesterday the Rocky Mountain News asked Senator Obama to “take Denver off the hook” and cover the 11 million shortfall in fund-raising for Denver’s share of expenses for the Democratic Convention.

Make the calls to your donors, Sen. Obama. Send the e-mails. Denver should no longer be on the hook for Democratic National Convention expenses. A few exhortations to your supporters could quickly retire the city’s remaining obligations.

After all, Denver is simply providing the venue for Barack Obama’s nomination. It’s his party. It’s only appropriate to ask his contributors to ensure that the celebration is a rousing success.

The presumptive nominee has raised a jaw-dropping $265 million for his fall campaign, smashing previous records. And reliable estimates say he might drum up that much more for the November race.

The Obama team could shake the sofa cushions at his headquarters, relatively speaking, and go a long way toward meeting the city’s goal. Think about it: Denver’s $11 million shortfall might be 2 percent of the money the senator will raise during the campaign.

Moreover, Obama’s decision Thursday to reject public financing will let him tap a wider range of donors, large and small. With public financing, Obama could spend a mere $84 million for the general election. Now, thousands of new donors can participate.

Oops! All those “creative class” donors to the unity pony cause might not be in quite the right mood for another solicitation at the moment, after their hero’s failure to respond to their pleas that he stand up to Nancy Pelosi and Steny Hoyer and defend the Constitution. For example, take idealistic Obama supporter “thereisnospoon” at the Orange Cheeto (I won’t link, but you can search by user name there):

On June 19 at 5:42PM thereisnospoon wrote:

I just called Senator Obama’s office. A very courteous staffer answered the phone immediately.

I mentioned that I was a precinct captain for the Obama campaign in California, that I was a caucus captain in Nevada who broke the story about the caucus shenanigans by the Clinton campaign.

I explained that I was extremely concerned about the FISA compromise currently being rammed through the House, and that it was very, very important to me that Senator Obama use his leverage to make a public stand against this capitulation.

Obama’s office told this poor deluded soul:

“We hear you loud and clear. The staff are literally reviewing the FISA issue as we speak. You’ll be hearing from us soon.”

Here is thereisnospoon just a little over 24 hours later, June 20 at 9:16PM:

Today is a day of mourning for those of us who love our Constitution, our Country, and the commitment to Rule of Law. Whether on account of fear of Republican attacks, or of corruption in pandering to telecom interests, or fear of retribution for their own complicity in Constitutional crimes, a minority of House Democrats combined with the reprobate Republicans to pass through a travesty of legislation that allows the Bush Administration and their big telecom allies retroactive immunity and a free pass for gutting the 4th Amendment. There is still fighting to be done to remove some of the worst provisions of the bill in the Senate–and we fight we must.

Still, however, we are right to feel betrayed. Progressives and freedom-loving Americans of all stripes are justifiably upset. Furious. Disheartened. Depressed.

Oh wait a minute. Thereisnospoon says it’s not Barack’s fault after all, even though he made an “inadequate statement” on the troubling FISA bill that passed the House yesterday. Nooooooo, my goodness no. It’s Nancy Pelosi’s fault because she took impeachment off the table! And as putative head of the Democratic Party, how on earth could Barack Obama have even the slightest influence over Speaker Pelosi?

Thereisnospoon explains:

No law is safe or binding under a Unitary Executive–which is why Barack Obama’s inadequate statement on FISA makes the presumption that he will clean up the mess once he is elected President. Because he knows that nothing that Congress might put in the bill will matter to the current President, who will simply ignore whatever restrictions are placed in his way.

See, Bush would just ignore anything Congress does anyway. We have to wait until The Precious is in the White House. Then he in his infinite wisdom will reverse all that Bush and Cheney have done to strengthen the “unitary executive.” Barack would never abuse his powers, no, no, no. He will rule with an even hand and will see to it that all that is wrong with the world is healed and transformed.

That is why, try as I might, I can’t get too worked up about what should otherwise be a hair-rending shredding of our Constitutional principles by our supposedly Democratic-led House of Representatives: the end result of this fight was predetermined long ago–no matter what the result of the FISA fight might be.

Oh. Okay then. Carry on, Denver. The blogger boyz are still ripe for bamboozling and hoodwinking, even though Barack has already taken their money and then thrown them under the bus with the rest of us. I’m sure they’ll be willing to cough up 11 million more to make Barack’s coronation very very special.

TINS is probably dreaming of the cabinet position he’ll be offered. this whole FISA thing demonstrated his importance to Obama’s campaign – oh, not overtly, but in a clever political move that made it look like they were ignoring him, but of course they really weren’t. because he’s so important to them.

this reminds me of the freepers, who at one time would rationalize every dumb thing W did as a clever political move. they kept it up for years, until it finally didn’t make sense even to them.

Senator Obama certainly isn’t leading on the FISA issue. He’s got that following thing down pat considering how he follow’s Senator Clinton’s lead on ANY issue. Of course I’d love to see him get the heck out of her way for the nomination.

he isn’t going to lead on any issue. that would give voters a record to consider, and he is running on an empty slate so that he can be whatever you want him to be. and people are actually buying this.

I envision him being carried in on a sedan chair on the shoulders of Sheila Jackson Lee and other Hillary supporters. He takes to the mic and waits 10 minutes for the howling to subside, also giving enough time for the paramedics to rescue those who have fainted or just gone out of their minds in his presence.

The “seal” is then ceremoniously replaced with the presidential seal thus making the act official. Hillary and Bill come forward to resounding boos and Hill asks forgiveness for making him wait this long to receive the nomination. Bill slaps her upside the head because he too has now become a “believer”. The crowd goes wild.

KO steps forward bearing the crown on a golden pillow while the rest of the MSM bow from the waist. Markos anoints and Ariana touches both of his shoulders with rolled up copies of the Constitution and the DNC bylaws. Chelsea takes a match and then burns both from each end.

With that Obama makes a short 2 minute presentation as he has other things to do and Michele steps forward for the ring kissing ceremony. As a parting shot, Obama announces that he has flip flopped on another issue and John Kerry leads a cheer!

Balloons and confetti fall from the rafters while the Secret Service parts the crowd with, “make way for Pres. Obama!” The band then strikes up a rousing rendition of a new song by Michael Jackson: “Bamboozled Again”.

The emotion is far reaching and most of us are overcome with sheer joy! Unity, unity, we shout in unision. It is going to be a good year to be an Obamabot!

It is then announced that President Elect Obama will now be unavailable for the next few months since he is on a long awaited and well deserved vacation and sees no need to continue to campaign. Supporters are asking for John McCain to get out of the race now as he is just standing in the way of the inevitable.

The fading shot will be of Andrew Sullivan holding up an engagement ring he has purchased for Obama and hopes to deliver on this emotionally charged evening.

I wonder if anyone has explained to Obama that he can’t just call for McCain to drop out of the race, or try to find a loophole to maneuver him out. “yes Barack, it’s a great idea but the republicans will just put another candidate up”

Woo…my comment just ended up in hyperspace. Try again. More succinctly. I refuse to share my choice under the bus space with OBots having a belated come-to-Jesus moment over Obama’s FISA fiasco. Y’all just get back there where the diesel fumes are the strongest and maybe it will clarify your thinking.

I’m a bit disturbed by the Denver plea. The city of Denver bid for the convention. Not because they lean democratic or support either candidate, in fact the state will very possibly go republican in the GE. They did this for recognition, and the tourist/visitor money this event would bring in. This was a calculated risk the City of Denver took. It happens all the time for a variety of big events.

If there are Democrats who are looking for a place to donate their money, I suggest they look for solid organizations that are working hard to help the people who have been flooded out of their homes and lost everything to the tornados and floods in the midwest.

JavaCityPal — on Denver — the DNC (or whatever subcommittee does the choosing) chose Denver, in part, I’m sure because they thought a convention in the state might push it over the line to blue. How many times have we heard that Obama’s going to flip Colorado? The benefits of the decision were not all on Denver’s side. All principles aside, it’s in the DNC’s and Obama’s best interests to show a bit of generosity here.

On the other hand, I totally agree with you about the floods. I’m constantly bombarded with miraculous reports of Obama’s fundraising capabilities. And a large part of his base are the same people who, within hours of both the tsunami and Katrina, were sending millions to relief organizations over the Internet.

I think a call from him to contribute would go much, much farther than moving sandbags for a photo op. And on the mercenary side, help him more than hurt him in fundraising down the line. His campaign is trumpeting a possible $500 million in fundraising by the GE — seems like he could spare a bit for flood victims AND Denver.

“I mentioned that I was a precinct captain for the Obama campaign in California, that I was a caucus captain in Nevada who broke the story about the caucus shenanigans by the Clinton campaign.”

Isn’t this a bit illegal to work like this in both states? In the old days, you had to be a citizen of Illinois to be a precinct captain in Illinois, and you definitely had to be a citizen of the state to work the state election. So how can this guy work two states?

The video is definitely creepy. I seem to be seeing more and more of these vids [finally], questioning the Messianic marketing that Axelrod chose for “The One” campaign. It’s what originally turned me off–the adoration element–and then provoked some research: Who is this man? What “does” he believe?

Now we know.

Obama’s not the Wizard of Oz or the Messiah or the Pied Piper. He’s whatever you want him to be. His beliefs and policy positions follow the same track. He’s the film that you project an image on. Doesn’t matter if it’s real or true. He is a Man for All Seasons, All People:

The DNC has $3.9 million by the end of May. This is down from $4.4 million at the end of April. Do Dean and the DNC fundraisers even go to work? And didn’t the DNC and the Obama campaign partner during April?

I think TINS lives in Nevada and voted there. A precinct captain works directly for the Obama campaign to get out the vote. It’s different from working at the caucuses. He didn’t work in a voting place.

I’m just thinking that Obama led this whole election season into being the most decadent, uncontrolled spending fiasco in history. Over $500M total spent just to get close to having a democratic nominee.

Now that he wants that amount again just for himself (if he is officially made the nominee), a big chunk of his and Hillary’s donors are reeling from the rapid rise of gas prices, food prices, and soon everything that is trucked will be rising. The timing is such that these leaders need to tighten their frivolous spending belts and Obama should have stayed with his promise to use public funding.

I think his choice to go with a $500M budget is showing a lack of judgment considering what the working class democrats, and the students are experiencing budgetwise. He’s showing his selfishness knows no limits.

I have to post this to help get it out of my system, either that or take an acid bath to remove the slime.
Okay, I haven’t been to TPM in maybe two years? I made the mistake of wondering in there today… big mistake. HUGE. (ala julia roberts)

This post sums it up for me:
“I support Obama, and you know why, even if he votes for the FISA bill, am I going to continue donating and supporting him? Because I CARE ABOUT FREEDOM, LIBERTY, JUSTICE AND THE CONSTITUTION.”

His rabid supporters are unenlightened. They don’t read and have very little knowledge of history. All they offer are rants and insults to support him and validate their blind obsession. Some still insist he is going to change the world. Right.

The bots are still Psych-O!
Barack Obama can’t turn off his own hate machine.

He belatedly issued a statement saying that he understood what Hillary meant to say. So did RFK Jr. So did Skinner of DU, albeit in a rather smarmy fashion. All responsible political writers understand that Hillary was not issuing any kind of “death threat.”

But — and I cannot stress this enough — many Obama followers are mentally ill.

I mean that literally, and I will never take it back. (Note that I said “followers,” not “supporters”: We are dealing with a cult.) From a purely tactical point of view, they should be mending fences with Hillary’s voters. But they refuse to do so. They would prefer to see half the Democratic Party leave — even if that mass exodus means the end of Obama’s chances in November.

It amazes me the hate that surrounds their posts. It is so unnatural. They interpret every criticism as if it were personal. No questioning or criticism allowed. I have never seen anything like it. As if you are invading their personal universe and upsetting the stars.

I can understand loyalty to a candidate up to a point, but this gets totally out of hand. The F word, the C word, racist, is flung out like rice at a wedding. You can almost see the veins bulging. And they do not know this guy! He has no record, no background, nothing you can point to with any assurance.

These people are in for a bigger letdown than Dean supporters. It is like they are defending the ugly boyfriend. They go absolutely insane.

Ala Chuck Norris, Hillary doesn’t need a vice president — she can shape up all the misdeeds and lawlessness of Bush/Cheney years ten days into the Administration and still have time for a long weekend in between.

Do you ever wonder where all these droids have been until like War of the Worlds they were awakened from their not long enough slumber?

Did all their playstation chairs go bad this season? Were their parents’ basements all flooded? Have they bested the “graAnimals” test and are now out wandering about amongst us as if they are magically socialized?

It’s like their remote control cars have suddenly plugged into their brain stems and they believe they’re baby ducks who have seen BZero as their mama. This would account for their mindlessness, but it doesn’t explain their basic mean-spiritedness.

Historians will have a field day with this primary where the hoards of adoring ducklings have been hypnotized by nothing more than John Tesh rocking out to Muzak.

Bayh would be OK. I wonder if he was in the military. I’ll check on that. I remember when Evan’s dad was Senator from Indiana and then he ran for President against Carter in 1976. When he ran for the Senate in 1963, he had an award-winning commercial based on a tune from the Broadway musical, Wildcat. It went:

Hey look him over,
Give him the eye,
His first name is Birch
and his last name is Bayh

That’s all I remember, but that part is burned in my memory forever. Birch was a nice guy too.

Jackson-Lee is still getting hell for standing by Hillary. I’m not sure she’s even going to be able to keep her seat this go-round. Living in her district, which is overwhelming for Obama and overwhelmingly black, I have doubts.

Of course you knew I wasn’t serious, right? It would be a shame if Jackson Lee does lose her seat. She has been treated shamefully during this campaign. I wish she would move to Massachusetts then and run against Kerry.

BB: Yeah, I missed the snark. It would be a shame to lose Sheila because I’m almost positive that whoever unseated her would be incompetent. I’ve hated how she’s been treated and I wasn’t even a fan until now. If she moved to MA I might just move with her. She can run against Kennedy. Let Ed O’Reilly take down Kerry.

HIllbuzz thinks the GOP are waiting until after the nomination/selection at the convention to attack:

“It just seems like the GOP is playing a great game of high-stakes poker. With this much to lose, it seems like they’d be out swinging already, but instead, they are being unusually sedate.

Waiting.

They’ve got something on Obama…something big…and they are playing a game of cat and mouse with the Democrats…waiting for them to formally nominate Obama…so they can hit him with what they’ve got.”

Or could it be that the right is in disarray? Has the right lost their touch or are they waiting for the right time to strike?

Electoral-vote.com on the RNC/DNC numbers:

“Some of the committees have reported their May fundraising efforts. The RNC has $54 million cash on hand to the DNC’s paltry $4 million. The DNC has actually raised quite a bit of money, but it is spending it on Howard Dean’s 50-state strategy. The RNC is saving its pennies to help John McCain in the Fall.The DSCC has $39 million on hand to the NRSC’s $22 million. The NRCC has $7 million in the bank. The DCCC hasn’t reported yet.”

From the article that was posted in electoral-vote.com, the RNC raised 24 million and spent very little while the DNC raised 10 million and spent a lot.

Why should the Republicans rush to destroy Obama? He’s doing a pretty good job of that himself. Now he has the blogger boyz mad at him. Isn’t Rove working for McCain? I doubt if he has lost his ability to produce nasty smears.

I think they are starting to come out of the trance now. The totally mad love affair part never lasts more than about 18 months in my experience. Then reality starts to set it. The person you were so in love with has some nasy habits, he isn’t that sensitive to your needs, and he doesn’t pay much attention to what you say. You know what I mean?

I talked to an attorney I used to work with last night who has drunk the koolaid. She sent me an email this morning and said I just did not sound like myself when we were talking about the democratic primary.

Who did she think you sounded like? It’s really hard to lose a friend over politics. Back in the 70s, I had a really close friend. We had been friends for a few years. In 1972, I voted for President for the first time. My friend started acting wierd, and wouldn’t go to vote with her husband. He confided that he was afraid she was going to vote for Nixon. What a shock.

Then when Watergate started, we started arguing about it, because she defended Nixon no matter what came out about him. Finally, I just couldn’t be friends with her anymore. It was like I never knew her at all. A few years later, she wrote to me and shared that she had become a born-again Christian and was going to bible school.

This was a woman who had always been a free spirit, very independent, used drugs, had her nose pierced long before anyone did that. Once she went to Morocco on the spur of the moment and stayed for months. She ended up voting for Nixon and being a fundamentalist. Unbelieveable.

I wonder if the republicans are being careful. obviously they saw how easily the O campaign was able to paint the Clintons as racists. it would be easier, I think, to level those charges at the repub party and make them stick, and they have to know that.

I don’t really know because I don’t go to those blogs much except to get a laugh. But the orange place was really in turmoil yesterday. They are having to work really hard to justify the things Obama has been doing lately, like his about face on NAFTA and supporting the destruction of the 4th amendment. I could have told them months ago that this would happen. In fact, I tried to tell them–along with lots of other like me. It’s like when your friend falls in love with a rotten guy who doesn’t like you and tries to sabatage your friendship. You try to reason with your friend, but she just can’t hear you.

I don’t know, she just said I did not sound like myself, I have never bought into conspiracy theories. But I really don’t feel this is a theory. The facts are right there in front of you. I don’t think our friendship is over, but this has divided people like crazy and it just scares me. And when I say scare, I mean scares me. People do not like buying into something that turns out to be a total fraud.

Hey, great. I’ll go read it right now. It is amazing how powerful politics can be though, isn’t it? People get really emotionally involved and committed. I always try to avoid talk about politics with people I know disagree with me. But if they keep talking, that makes it hard.

“It would be a shame to lose Sheila because I’m almost positive that whoever unseated her would be incompetent.”

This is what gets me. They talk about the Clinton machne, but Obama and Dean and all these people are out for themselves, forget what’s good for the party. So he’s running around trying to help that guy in Georgia who votes with Bush all the time, but yet he was out to get John Lewis and any Clinton supporter. Does he give a damn that the person running against Lewis wouldn’t do a good job? Hell no, because it’s all about Obama and he’s looking at everything in terms of political advantage and personal scores.

The bots are still Psych-O!
Barack Obama can’t turn off his own hate machine.

He belatedly issued a statement saying that he understood what Hillary meant to say.

It was BO and his campaign that sent the media the clip of KO rating about Hillary and the RFK comment. They sent this to many people. If he didn’t want to make it into a bid deal, then he shouldn’t have done that. BO knew what he was doing.

They told me the radiation treatments would make me tired. They did. On the last day, they said, "It'll get worse before it gets better." They were right, but they didn't tell me how much worse. It's like my entire body is in open rebellion. Also, alien skin. Yikes. I really gotta post these links before it's suddenly September. […]